Lamp holders



- May 12, 1970 D. F. SALTER LAMP-HOLDERS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 5, 1967 D. F. SALTER LAMP HOLDERS May 12; 1 970 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 5. 1967 Inventor D. F. 'SALTER By I I MM, wumq gw l L. [E mum n y 1970 D. F. SALTER 3,511,982

LAMP HOLDERS Filed p i 5. 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet s D.FLSAL.TER B mwbfwmdxwsu Attorneys D. F. SALTER May 12, 1970 LAMP HOLDERS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed April 5, 1967 lnvenlor A). F. S ALTER .kwkjwm r wg United States Patent 3,511,982 LAMP HOLDERS Derek F. Salter, Addlestone, England, assignor to Rival Lamps Limited, Weybridge, Surrey, England, a British company Filed Apr. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 628,624 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 18, 1966, 16,942/ 66 Int. Cl. B60q 3/04; H05k 1/12 U.S. Cl. 240-816 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Miniature lamp holders fit in an aperture in a printed circuit panel. The holder has projections for locating itself in the aperture and clamping surfaces arranged to clamp the filament tails of the lamp directly against the printed circuit on the panel.

The advantages of using printed circuitry are essentially simplicity, cheapness and a minimum of high resistance at electrical connections. We now find that these advantages can be extended to printed circuit miniature lamp holders for capless lamps of the kind, described, for example, in our co-pending patent application No. 49,788/ 63 and having filament terminals in the form of the leadin wires which extend as tails out through the sealed neck of the lamp.

In accordance with the invention such a holder comprises a body of insulating material having at one end a cup which is arranged to receive and hold the neck of a suitable capless lamp, at least one lateral projection which is arranged to engage one face of a suitable printed circuit panel to secure the holder in position in an aperture in the panel after part of the body carrying the projection has been manipulated through the aperture in the panel, and clamping surfaces which are arranged to clamp the filament tails of the lamp against conducting parts on the panel at the edge of the aperture.

By eliminating the conducting strips from the holder, it can be produced much more cheaply as a unitary moulding of plastic, rubber, or other resilient material instead of from at least three pieces and two materials. In addition the arrangement is more efiicient in that the number of electrical connections which have to be made between the filament terminals and the printed circuit, where high resistance may arise, is halved.

Although the neck of the lamp may be bonded or fused in the holder cup, means are preferably provided in the cup for holding a lamp neck mechanically in such a manner that the lamp can be removed for replacement. Preferably the body is made of resilient material and the internal opposite walls of the cup are provided with ribs or grooves for engagement with complementary grooves or ribs on the neck of a lamp. To improve the resilience of the cup it may be axially slit. The filament tails may pass out of the cup onto the clamping surfaces through these slits or through other apertures in the cup walls.

The part of the body with the or each projection may be arranged to be a snap push fit through an aperture in 3,511,982 Patented May 12, 1970 a printed circuit panel. In this case the projection may be an annular rib around the cup and the cup should again be resilient. Preferably however there are two projections in the form of diametrically opposed cam lugs which are arranged to be manipulated through diametrically opposite slots in the edge of an aperture in a printed circuit panel and, upon subsequent rotation of the body, to ride over the face of the panel in the manner of a bayonet coupling.

There are a number of alternative constructions of holder. One will be for use with a printed circuit panel in which the printed circuit is formed on the rear surface of the panel, that is the surface opposite to that from which the lamp will project from the holder cup. In this case the projections will lie to the side of the clamping surface nearer to the open end of the cup and the clamping surfaces will extend laterally from the body and face the open end of the cup. The cup end of the holder, with a lamp in position will then in use be manipulated, with the projection or projections, through the aperture in the panel from the rear of the panel.

A second construction of holder will be for use with a printed circuit panel in which the printed circuit is formed on the front surface of the panel. In this case, the projection or projections will lie to the side of the clamping faces remote from the open end of the cup and the clamping surfaces will extend laterally from the body and face away from the open end of the cup. The end of the body remote from the open end of the cup carrying the projection or projections, will then be manipulated through the aperture in the printed circuit panel from the front of the panel. A third construction is for use with a panel in which the printed circuit material extends through the aperture in the panel around the edge of the aperture. In this case the clamping surfaces should face laterally from the body.

If the holder body is made of a transparent, or at least a translucent material, some of the light radiated from the underneath part of the lamp globe in use, around the neck of the lamp, will be transmitted through the body of the lamp holder through the aperture in the printed circuit panel to provide subsidiary illumination behind the panel. Such an arrangement is useful for example when the printed circuit panel is part of a car dashboard, the lamp in the holder being used to illuminate the dashboard instruments and the subsidiary radiated light at the back of the printed circuit panel illuminating the usual parcels tray or glOVe compartment. In another application the holder could be fitted to a motor car door so that the main illumination from the lamp provides the courtesy illumination when the door is opened and the subsidiary illumination acts as a parking light. In this instance an overriding switch would be necessary so that the lamp is energized when the door is closed. Two examples of lamp holders constructed in accordance with the invention, and their use, are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a holder, and a part of a printed circuit panel to which the holder is to be fitted;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the end of the holder at which the open end of the cup is situated;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line IIIIII in FIG. 2 of the holder assembled with a lamp in the printed circuit panel;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line IV--IV in FIG. 2 assembled with a lamp in the printed circuit panel;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the use of the second holder;

FIG. 6 is an elevation similar to FIG. 2 but of the second holder; and,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are sections similar to FIGS. 3 and 4 but taken on the lines VII-VII in FIG. 6 respectively.

The holder shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is a unitary moulding of plastics material and consists of a body 9 with a two part discontinuous annular flange 10. On one side of the flange 10 are a pair of diametrically opposed wings 11 and on the other side of the flange the body forms a cup 12 divided into two portions by two diametrically opposed axial slits 13. Oriented at 90 degrees to the slits 13 are pair of diametrically opposed projecting cam lugs 14 and two subsidiary lugs 15 are provided diametrically opposed positions, adjacent to the lugs 14, but in the junction between the outer surface of the cup 12, and a surface 16 of the flange 10 which faces the open end of the cup and provides the clamping surfaces. A blind passage 17, which opens into the clamping surface 16 is provided in each of the wings 11. An annular groove 18 is provided around the inner surface of the cup 12, adjacent to its open end.

The holder is intended to be used with the illustrated lamp having a globe 19, a blow moulded neck 20 which is formed with diametrically opposed ribs 21 and butt sealed by a tip 22. Leading in wires, in the form of filament tails 23, extend out through the butt end.

The holder is intended to be used with a printed circuit panel 24 provided with a circular aperture 25 having diametrically opposed slots 26, one face of the panel being provided with a printed metallic circuit 27 which extends two arcuate portions around the edge of the aperture 25.

In use, the filament tails 23 are bent as shown in FIG. 1 and the neck of the lamp is pushed into the cup 12 so that the filament tails are led down the slits 13 and into the passages 17. As the lamp is pushed into the holder, the ribs 21 spring the two parts of the cup 12 apart, owing to the resilience of the material from which the holder is made and the provision of the slits, until the ribs 21 snap into the groove 18. The cup 12 is then manipulated, with the lamp in the cup, through the apertures 25 in the panel from its rear surface, which is shown uppermost in FIG. 1, so that the lugs 14 pass through the slots 26. The holder is then turned in a clockwise direction, as seen from above in FIG. 1, so that the cam lugs 14 ride on to the front face of the panel 24 until the holder is wedged in position, the turning action being arrested by the subsidiary lugs 15 which engage the front of the panel. This manipulation of the holder is assisted by finger and thumb engagement with the wings 11. The filament tails 23 are then firmly clamped between the clamping face 16 of the flange 10 and the separate arcuate portions of the printed circuit 27 around the aperture 25. Current supplied through the printed circuit will then energise the lamp filament which projects from the front of the panel, that is the side lowermost as shown in FIG. 1.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the lamp and printed circuit panel are as before but the holder is of a different construction so that the surface of the panel shown uppermost in FIG. 5, and on which the printed circuit 27 is provided, is considered to be the front of the panel from which the lamp will project. The modified holder has a body 9a formed with a discontinuous annular flange 10a and cam lugs 14a as before. However, the wings 11 are omitted and the cup 1211 with its slits 13a: and internal annular groove 18a are formed at the other end of the body. In this case the slits 13a extended through the base of the cup 12a and through the body 9a on the other side of the flange 10a. The lamp is inserted with its filament tails 23 oriented as shown in FIG. 5, these tails passing through the slits 13a in the bottom of the cup and out through the continuation of the slits beneath the flange 10a, until the ribs 21 on the lamp neck snap into the groove 18 as before. The holder is inserted through the aperture 25 so that the lugs 14a, pass through the slots 26 and the holder is rotated in a clockwise direction as seen from above in FIG. 5 until the lugs 14a ride up on to the rear surface of the panel 24. The filament tails 23 will then be clamped between the clamping surfaces formed by the underneath face of the flange 10a and the arcuate portions of the printed circuit 27 on the front of the panel 24.

In either case the holder may be made from a clear plastics material such as clear polystyrene, or from a clear or coloured translucent plastics material, and when this is so light will be transmitted through the body of the holder and provide subsidiary illumination to the rear of the panel, that is above the panel as shown in FIG. 1 and below the panel as shown in FIG. 5.

I claim:

1. A miniature capless lamp holder for fitting a miniature capless lamp having conductive filament tails to a printed circuit panel having conductive parts, said holder comprising a body which is a unitary molding of resilient insulating material defining at one end a cup having internal opposite wall parts provided with ribs or grooves for engagement with complementary grooves or ribs on the neck of a suitable capless lamp therein, at least one lateral projection on said body adapted to engage one face of a suitable said printed circuit panel to secure said holder in position in a said aperture in said panel after said projection has been manipulated through said aperture, means defining openings adjacent the bottom of said cup for leading said filament tails out of said cup on to said conducting parts, and clam-ping surfaces on said body adapted to clamp said tails of said capless lamp in use against said conducting parts at the edge of said aperture.

2. A holder according to claim 9, wherein said wall parts of said cup have portions defining axial slits to improve the resilience of said cup.

3. A holder according to claim 2, wherein said projection lies to the side of said clamping surfaces nearer to said cup and said lamp tails are in use led out of said cup on to said clamping surfaces, which face said cup end of said body, through said axial slits in said wall parts.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 789,734 5/1905 Hochhausen 240l52 XR 2,419,395 4/1947 Foote 339144 2,892,992 6/1959 Grovemiller 339-127 3,065,335 11/1962 Madansky 2408.l6 3,388,366 6/1968 Mitchell 33917 JOHN M. HORAN, Primary Examiner D. S. STALLARD, Assistant Examiner US Cl. X.R. 33 9-17 

